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An Orientation to the California State Capitol and Swing Space for Lobby Day Attendees

An Orientation to the California State Capitol and Swing Space for Lobby Day Attendees  By Chris Micheli             This article is intended to provide an orientation to the California State Capitol and its accompanying Swing Space for individuals participating in a lobby day.   The State Capitol The California State Capitol is the seat of state government, located in Sacramento. The building houses the chambers of the State Legislature, which is comprised of the Assembly and the Senate, We often refer to this building as the historic side of the Capitol. The first floor holds the original offices of California’s Governor (actually a 3-room suite), two offices of the Treasurer, Attorney General, and Secretary of State. There is also a State Library exhibit room and a State Archives exhibit room. The Senate has two hearing rooms on the first floor – 112 and 113. There is a small meeting room as well. The Asse...
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How Many Bills Could We See in the 2026 Session?

How Many Bills Could We See in the 2026 Session?  By Chris Micheli             As we know, last December, the California State Assembly and Senate, in their respective house rules, reduced the limit on bill introductions by legislators for the biennium session. How will these limits impact 2026 bill introductions in the California Legislature?             Based upon the current number of bill introductions, we could see the same number of bills next year as we did this year. However, the historical trend has always been a reduction in bills introduced in the second year of the California Legislative Session.             By way of background, here are the two respective house rules with a brief explanation of each: Assembly Rule 49 Limitation on the Introduction of Bills 49.(a) A Member may introduce not...
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An Introduction to the California Rulemaking Process

An Introduction to the California Rulemaking Process  By Chris Micheli   California has over 200 State agencies, departments, boards, and commissions that make public policy through their authority to adopt regulations. A list of State agencies that have adopted regulations can be found on the website of California’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL), which is found at www.oal.ca.gov   OAL’s website also provides direct access to the California Code of Regulations (CCR), which is organized under various subject matter titles, of which there are 28 titles. These titles contain the over 60,000 state regulations that are currently in effect.   California’s Administrative Procedure Act (APA) contains required procedures for rule-making and administrative hearings conducted by all of these agencies and departments. The APA is found at Chapter 3.5, 4 and 5 commencing with Section 11340 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.   In addi...
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Some Recent Trends in California Legislative Drafting

Some Recent Trends in California Legislative Drafting  By Chris Micheli             In reviewing thousands of bills making their way through the legislative process each year, and co-teaching a course on Legislative Drafting at UC Davis King Hall School of Law for the past five years, I have noted a number of recent trends in California bills.             In particular, three common recent trends in bills in the California Legislature include:   Including legislative findings and declarations, often followed by statements of legislative intent. Including a severability clause in bills. Making a bill contingent upon a future budget appropriation. More Legislative Findings and Declarations               More and more bills over the last few Sessions have included legislative f...
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What Are All the Official State Items?

What Are All the Official State Items?  By Chris Micheli             In California’s Government Code, Title 1, Division 2, Chapter 2, which is titled “State Flag and Emblems,” there are a series of state-designated items. In 2024, Governor Newsom signed three bills making additional designations. In 2025, Governor Newsom signed 2 bills, which established two new state symbols: the bigberry manzanita as the state shrub and the giant garter snake as the state snake. The following is the list of these 44 official items and the corresponding section of the Government Code: The Bear Flag is the official State Flag of all state, county, city, and town agencies. Sec. 420 “Eureka” is the official State Motto. Sec. 420.5 “The Golden State” is the official State Nickname. Sec. 420.75 The golden poppy (Eschscholzia californica) is the official State Flower. April 6 of each year is hereby designated California Poppy Day. Sec. 421...
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Disposition of Other California Legislative Measures – 2025 Edition

Disposition of Other California Legislative Measures – 2025 Edition  By Chris Micheli             In addition to considering nearly 2,400 bills in the 2025 California Legislative Session, there are several other types of legislative measures in this state. What are those measures and how did their fare this year?             While it is contained in a bill, a Governor’s Reorganization Plan (GRP) is a unique type of bill (including that it does not list a legislator after the “Introduced by” clause). In the 2025 Session, the Assembly and Senate each considered one GRP. Neither house passed a measure rejecting the GRP.             The next type of legislative measure is a constitutional amendment, which Members of the Legislature can introduce and place on the ballot with a 2/3 vote of each house. In the 2025 Sessio...
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Some Statistics from the 2025 Legislative Session

Some Statistics from the 2025 Legislative Session  By Chris Micheli               Because I am a self-professed legislative geek, I share the following statistics from the recently-concluded 2025 California Legislative Session:   ·        There were 2,397 bills introduced during the 2025 Legislative Session. Of those bills: ·        864 were Senate Bills. ·        1,533 were Assembly Bills. *     T otal bills passed by Assembly: 936 (61% of introduced bills) *     Total bills passed by Senate: 600 (69% of introduced bills) ·        There were 390 spot bills between the two houses. ·        There were 481 intent bills between the two houses. ·        There were 2,232 bills that were keyed majority...
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